The Louvre's Reflection
by EvanescentDevotion
Summary: After New York, S.H.E.I.L.D has become fully aware of the eminent threats that await the earth in the depths of space. Doctor Robin Shirley; a S.H.E.I.L.D psychologist and negotiator, is assigned to find just what that threat means, from the prisoner Loki of Asgard. But perhaps there are dangers not even the god, Loki, can foresee; dangers that come from unlikely places.


Introduction  
Yorick

Every day she would sit here. Here in this place where the walls were white like a solitary confinement cell; ironically fitting for the situation. The rhythmic tapping of the pen in her palm was a simple comfort that she couldn't rid herself of; even when she had abandoned the note book after the second day. She figured out that he didn't like it on the first day. The day these little meetings began.

She wouldn't admit it, but this was one of her favorites; this man whose very soul was shrouded in a mystery she thought even he didn't understand. He didn't talk much, but when he did it was often chastising or bitter humor; though she could tell it was a defense. Or at least she thought. She had been doing this sort of thing for years, but nobody could truly understand the mind of another. They could just do the best that they could, and she was trying.

He sat on a chaise in the corner of the room, tossing up a balled piece of paper to keep him entertained as she observed. The piece of paper he ripped out of her notebook on the first day. While she was still writing. It was the only thing he could do when she spent the day talking and asking questions; he couldn't concentrate on his reading. The first few days he would try to make her presence as undesirable for her as it was for him. He would taunt her, insult her, insult her home and her occupation; but he quickly found that she had already been accustomed to such behavior long ago.

Now, here she sat; tapping her pen against the palm of her hand like always. Looking up at him with those expectant, azure eyes. Looking at him in a way he couldn't stand- a look of hope. He knew he could only bring the same disappointment that stuck to him like a plague. Everyone, no matter who they were, would always be disappointed in him. Or at least that's how he felt. But today was different; he figured he might as well give it a shot. He always wanted to prove himself; and though he doubted it more than anything, perhaps talking would help him understand himself. Help her understand that this was all pointless.

"Waiting for me to bleed my heart out to you again, doctor?" His voice was laced with a bitter sarcasm.

"Of course, Loki." She looked up, smile slowly spreading on her face at finally being addressed. "I'm always waiting."

Loki simply scoffed, unable to look at her delicate face any longer. Her optimism was simply disgusting. Was she really that naïve about the world, or was she just afraid to acknowledge it? Either way, her behavior was simply impossible to deal with.

"Did you want to say something, sir?" She tucked a piece of light brown hair behind her ear, studying his lax figure for any sign of resolution.

Without looking back at her, Loki continued to toss the piece of paper in his hand. "I suppose you're not going to leave me in peace until I converse, are you?"

"Exactly." The woman held back a chuckle, knowing it could jeopardize the breakthrough she assumed was happening.

With a frustrated sigh, Loki turned over in the seat so that he was no longer lying on his back and facing the ceiling, but turned towards the woman without making eye contact. That already happened once and it was unsettling. With his hands in between his knees, he fiddled with the paper ball in his hand and contemplated for the last time that he would do this.

"What do you want me to say? I'm remorseful for New York?" He hissed, brow furrowed in annoyance. "Well I'm not." He was praying that would be enough for her to get mad; for her to show some tiny hint of defeat.

"That's not what I want at all." Her voice was blunt and her expression dull. "Well, it would be nice," she perked up to her usual self again, "but I just want to know about _you_."

The god was baffled at such a request. Clearly this was a trick; a trick to get him to feel sentiment or make him soft. She was trying to make him venerable; but he wouldn't let her. He would just have to prod a bit more and then maybe she would lose her resolve. He had done it to plenty before, and this pathetic human was no different than the rest. She would break.

"You wish to know about me then? Know how I tick?" He gave a bitter laugh, looking around the room as if enjoying his own private joke. "I just find you humans self-entitled insects that need to be dominated, that's all." He threw up his hands, still holding onto the paper ball in his left. "Is it fair to condemn me for such an opinion?"

The woman's mouth opened slightly as if she was about to say something, but nothing came out. For a moment Loki took that as his little victory, but was surprised yet again when the woman decided to finally respond.

"Tell me why you feel this way."

He hated this more than anything. This façade of understanding and concern. He was a criminal and she was just a commoner; a human who could never understand the internal war he fought every day. She could never understand, so the fact that she was trying was something he couldn't wrap his mind around. It was so revoltingly innocent and ignorant all at the same time. Yet she still sat here, looking at him as if there was a chance things could be understood between them.

"Because of aloof fools like you!" Raising his voice, he rose from the chaise and walked over to the wall where he hid from her stare again.

His hands fiddled with the paper ball behind his back as his bit back the anger swelling inside. It wasn't personal; he just despised all of this prodding. It made him feel exposed. That was just something he couldn't handle.

"I'm sorry if I angered you." The woman stood from her seat too; the tone in her voice sickeningly sincere. "Please forgive me if I went too far."

"Leave my presence;" Loki managed to get his anger in his voice to simmer down, but the frustration was still evident, "I care to talk less now than when we first began."

"Of course," calm and collected, the woman slipped her pen into the chest pocket of her white jacket, and turned to leave, "we can always continue tomorrow."

Loki gave a deep sigh and removed a hand from his back to massage his temples. This was not what he wanted to happen. Why couldn't she just leave him to his solitude? What did she see in him that he couldn't? To him, his future was just as empty as his heart; yet she looked at him like he had promise. Or perhaps that was all a fallacy too. He decided that must have been true; that she was just trying to break him. Because that would be easier to take.

Out of the corner of his eye, Loki watched her as her image faded from his cell. There was a look of sadness about her, but the way she continued to gaze at him suggested it was for him rather than herself. It stung like a spider bite. Irritatingly dull, but present enough to make an impression.

When he knew he was absolutely alone, Loki took his place back on the chaise and continued to stare at the familiar scene of the ceiling. He held the crumpled up paper to his chest, carefully unfolding it without looking. When it was completely open, Loki sat in silence for a few moments; thoughts swirling about in his head. With a deep breath, he brought the paper to his face, readying it for the first time since the day he took it.

Patient: Loki Laufeyson of Asgaurd Number:600049  
Session Date: 4/6/14  
Doctor: Robin Shirley

Notes  
Patient displays immediate dissasociati

He didn't even read the unfinished notes; he had gotten what he hoped would be there. Her name was Robin Shirley. The woman whom he despised the most, but would secretly want to come back for him. The faith in him that he had always been searching for in those castle walls.


End file.
